Home Statsman Rohit lights up the record books in South Africa series Rohit Sharma took the fewest innings by an Indian opener to score a maiden Test double century, while hitting by far the most sixes in a Test series. Mohandas Menon 01 November, 2019 16:34 IST Rohit Sharma celebrates his double century during the second day of the third and final Test match against South Africa in Ranchi on October 20. - AFP Mohandas Menon 01 November, 2019 16:34 IST 4The number of Test innings taken by Rohit Sharma to register a maiden double century as an opener is now the fewest by an Indian batsman. The previous Indian record was eight innings, jointly held by Sunil Gavaskar (in 1971) and Mayank Agarwal, who did so earlier in the series.Fewest innings to score a maiden double century as a Test openerInningsTest No.BatsmanCountryScoreOpponentVenueDateResult11Brendon KuruppuSri Lanka201*New ZealandColombo CCCApril 19, 1987Drawn13Graeme SmithSouth Africa200BangladeshEast LondonOctober 18, 2002Won24Sid BarnesAustralia234EnglandSydneyDecember 17, 1946Won22David LloydEngland214*IndiaBirminghamJuly 6, 1974Won410Lawrence RoweWest Indies302EnglandBridgetownMarch 9, 1974Drawn43Aamer SohailPakistan205EnglandManchesterJuly 2, 1992Drawn430Rohit SharmaIndia212South AfricaRanchiOctober 20, 2019Won Fewest innings by Indians to score a maiden double century as a Test openerInningsTest No.BatsmanScoreOpponentVenueDateResult430Rohit Sharma212South AfricaRanchiOctober 20, 2019Won84Sunil Gavaskar220West IndiesPort of SpainApril 19, 1971Drawn85Mayank Agarwal215South AfricaPuneOctober 3, 2019Won1014Dilip Sardesai200*New ZealandMumbai (BS)March 15, 1965Drawn2076Ravi Shastri206AustraliaSydneyJanuary 5, 1992Drawn 19The number of sixes hit by Rohit Sharma in the recent three-match Test series against South Africa is by far the most ever hit in a Test series.Most sixes hit by a batsman in a Test seriesSixesBatsmanCountryOpponentTestsInningsRunsBallsBalls/sixYearResult19Rohit SharmaIndiaSouth Africa34529683362019Won15Shimron HetmyerWest IndiesBangladesh24222211162018LostNote: Six batsmen have hit 14 sixes in a Test series: Wasim Raja (Pakistan in 1976-77), Andrew Flintoff (England in 2003), Matthew Hayden (Australia in 2003-04), Kevin Pietersen (England in 2005), Shahid Afridi (Pakistan in 2005-06) and Harbhajan Singh (India in 2010-11).Rohit Sharma’s 19 sixes came off the following bowlersSixesBowlerNotes11Dane PiedtEight sixes came in the first Test at Visakhapatnam and three in the third Test at Ranchi5Keshav MaharajAll in the first Test at Visakhapatnam2Lungi NgidiBoth in the third Test at Ranchi1Anrich NortjeCame in the third Test at Ranchi47The number of sixes hit by the Indian batsmen in the recently concluded series against South Africa is now a new Test record. The previous record came in the five-match Ashes series in 2013-14, when the Australian batsmen hit 40 sixes. The Indian batsmen in this series surpassed the previous record in just three Test matches!Most sixes hit by one side in a Test seriesSixesCountryBalls facedBalls/sixTestsOpponentVenueYearResult47India2,856613South AfricaIndia20193-040Australia5,1021275EnglandAustralia2013-145-037Pakistan3,581973IndiaPakistan2005-061-036England4,5901275AustraliaEngland20052-1 65The number of sixes hit by both sides in the recent Test series between India and South Africa equals the record. The five-match Ashes series in 2013-14 had seen the same number of sixes hit by both sides. However, the recent series in India was of only three Test matches.Most sixes hit by both sides in a Test seriesSixesTeam 1 (sixes)Team 2 (sixes)Balls facedBalls/sixTestsVenueYearResult65Australia (40)England (25)9,5821475Australia2013-14Australia won 5-065India (47)South Africa (18)5,691883India2019India won 3–059New Zealand (32)Pakistan (27)6,8121153UAE2014-15Drawn 1-151England (36)Australia (15)9,1221795England2005England won 2-1 Queries CornerHow often has Virat Kohli not enforced the follow-on when he could have done so? Please provide details. – Ashish Khakar, BarodaVirat Kohli has not enforced the follow-on when he had the opportunity to do so on seven occasions as Test captain. However, his side went on to win all those seven Tests.LeadOpponentVenueYearResult213South AfricaDelhi2015-16Won by 337 runs258New ZealandIndore2016-17Won by 321 runs200EnglandVisakhapatnam2016-17Won by 246 runs299BangladeshHyderabad2016-17Won by 208 runs309Sri LankaGalle2017Won by 304 runs292AustraliaMelbourne2018-19Won by 137 runs299West IndiesKingston2019Won by 257 runs In the Ranchi Test match, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane put on 267 runs for the fourth wicket. Is this now the highest by a Mumbai pair in Tests? – Salil Joshi, MumbaiThe Rohit-Ajinkya stand of 267 runs is now the third highest by a Mumbai pair in Test cricket after an unbroken stand of 344 by Sunil Gavaskar and Dilip Vengsarkar for the second wicket versus the West Indies at Kolkata in 1978-79, and an unbroken stand of 298 by Dilip Vengsarkar and Ravi Shastri for the sixth wicket versus Australia at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai in 1986-87.Which visiting side has the best Test record in the Indian subcontinent? – Rahul Satpathy, New DelhiThe most successful visiting side in terms of percentage of wins is South Africa (30.43 percent), followed by Australia (28.57 percent), West Indies (26.44 percent), England (25.47 percent), New Zealand (15.38 percent) and Zimbabwe (10.34 percent).South Africa has now lost its last seven Tests in Asia. Has any other visiting side lost so many in a row on Asian soil? – Kiran Vartak, NashikAustralia has the worst sequence. It lost nine successive Tests in Asia between February 26, 2013, and August 17, 2016 (four in India, two in the UAE and three in Sri Lanka). Also note that another visiting side, the West Indies, in the recent times has had a poor run in Asia. Since November 2013, it has won just one of its last 11 Tests in Asia and has lost the remaining 10!Note: All figures are updated as of October 26, 2019. Support Sportstar Dear Reader, Support our journalism — where text and pictures intermingle so seamlessly — and help us scale up your experience as the world changes around us. Your contribution is vital to our brand of uninfluenced, boots-on-the-ground reportage that’s worth your while. Clickbait sensationalism is not for us, but editorial independence is — we owe it to you. Support Quality Journalism Catch the Chess24 Legends of Chess final highlights Subscribe to our daily newsletter Get your daily dose of Sportstar with handpicked stories delivered right to your inbox! 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